Bending machine for metal construction material



BENDING MACHINE FOR METAL CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL J. W. GLEASON Filed Jan.6, 1940 Dec. 2, 1941.

Patented Dec. 2, 1941 mmune MACHINE FOR METAL CONSTRUC- TION MATERIALJohn W. Gleason, Chicago,"Ill. Application January 6, 1940, Serial No.312,630

' 4Clalms.

A common method of constructing partitions in buildings is to set up aframework of light channels and facing the framework with suitablematerials. In one form of construction a horizontal or foot channel isprovided with upwardly-projecting lugs with which vertical channels orstuds are adapted to be engaged. The present invention relates to suchlug-carrying members and has for its object to improve such members and,particularly, the means for manufacturing the same.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterizedwill hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but,for a full understanding of my invention and of its objects andadvantages, reference may be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a set of dies for forming pairsof lugs on a channel member, the dies being shown open in full lines andpartway closed in dotted lines so as to illustrate the preliminarydrawing action on the metal in the bottom of the channel, as shown indotted lines; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing only afragment of the die structure, with the plunger members lowered fartherthan in either full or dotted lines in Fig. 1, and various other stagesof the plunger movements and in the shaping of the lugs beingillustrated in dotted lines; Fig. 3' is a perspective view of a fragmentof a completed channel member ready for use; and Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of a fragment of a channel which has lugs projecting therefrom inthe opposite direction from those in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawing, l represents a small structurechannel iron member, the bottom wall or web of which has been mutilatedto provide pairs of elongated finger-like lugs projecting therefrom atright angles to the plane of'said bottom wall or web. The two lugs ofeach pair are similar to each other, each comprising a semi-cylindricalbase .section 2 terminating in a relatively straight section, indicatedat 3 and 4, respectively; the section 4 be- .ing preferably longer thanthe section 3 so as to project beyond the free end of the latter. Theconcave sides of the two curved sections 2 face each other, whereas thecomparatively straight sections -3 and 4 may flare a little so as to befarthest apart toward their 'free ends. The free end of each of thesections 3 and 4 is made to curve outwardly away from the other lips ofa widened mouth.

section, as indicated at 5, thereby forming the In assembling the memberI with a vertical channel such as indicated in dotted lines at A, thelower end of the member A need only be brought directly above theentrance between the forwardly-projecting sections or legs of a pair oflugs, with its, bottom wall or web abutting against theupwardly-projecting part of the longer leg 4. Then the member A needonly be pressed down so that the longer lug lies within the channel ofthe member A and causes the two channel members to be interlockedagainst relative movements lengthwise of the member I or crosswise ofthe member A. It will be seen that it is a very simple matter tointerlock a stud with a base or foot channel, since the workman need notstoop over in order to register the lugs with the stud, and since theflaring mouth between each pair of lugs effectively guides the lower endof the stud with the free end of the long lug positioned in the troughor channel of the stud.

The means for and method of forming the lugs'is illustrated in Figs. 1and 2. Referring to these figures, 6 represents a bed or-base on whichrests a stationary lower die I havinga rectangular opening 8 extendingthrough the same and registering with a similar opening 9 in the member6. The opening 8 is as wide as the internal width of the bottom of thegroove or channel in the member I, and its length is as great as theentire section of the member I from which a pair of lugs is to be cut.Rising from the bed 6 at opposite ,ends of the member 1 are two pins l2that rise above the ,top of the die member I and serve as stops againstwhich the side of a channel member I is placed when that member is slidlengthwise upon this die member; the pins serving to place thelongitudinal center of the member I directly above the longitudinalcenterof the slot or opening 8.

The movable die comprises a head I! and two plunger members l5 and I6projecting downwardly therefrom in registration with the slot or opening8; the thickness of each plunger being equal to the width of the dieopening, and

the distance between the two vertical edges of the plungers that arefarthest from each other being equal to the length of the die opening.The plungers are made from stock which is rectangular in cross section.The width of each plunger determines the length of the lug which is tobe fashioned thereby. Therefore, since one of the lugs should be longerthan the other, one

of the dies is made wider than the other die.

I have found that by constructing the dies so as to cause them to drawthe metal oi the channel member before severing it to produce a lug, Iam enabled to form a pair of completed lugs by a single downward strokeof the movable die member. I accordingly cut away the lower inner comerof each plunger, as indicated at H, on an angle of aboutforty-flve-degrees, from a point beginning at about the center of thenarrower plunger, and from a point located at the same distance from theinner edge of the wider plunger. From the points is at the lower edgesof the edge faces I], the lower edges of the plungers or male dies slopeupwardly at a small angle to the horizontal, to the outer edges, asindicated at I9; the extreme outer corners being rounded on a smallradius, as indicated at 20.

When a channel is to be provided with lugs, it is placed between thedies, as shown in Fig. 1, while the upper die member is raised. Then,upon pressing the upper die member down, the points it on the plungersare the first to engage with the bottom of the channel, pressing downand stretching or drawing the metal, as indicated in dotted lines at ain Fig. 1. As the upper die member continues to descend, a gradualshearing process along the long edges of the die opening takes place sothat two strips are cut from the bottom of the channel but still remainattached to the channel at their ends. When the rounded corners 20 ofthe plungers reach the bottom wall of the channel, the correspondingends of the tongues or strips are severed so that rudimentary lugs suchas indicated at B in Fig; 2 result. At this time both strips or tonguesare shorter than they will eventually be, because a portion of each ofthe inclined cutting edges I! still lies above the plane of the bottomof the channel, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2. As the plungers movedown farther, the inclined cutting edges I! perform two functions,namely, they bend the two tongues downwardly toward each other andlengthen them by making further shearing cuts. By the time that theplungers have moved down only a short distance from the position shownin full lines in Fig. 2, namely to the broken line m, the tongues b havebeen swung down and lengthened, as indicated by the dotted lineformation 0. During the remainder of the downward movement of theplungers to the broken line positions marked 1 the tongues are broughtinto the positions and shapes indicated at d; the lugs now having takentheir final shapes. In order that the two lugs shall not be brought intoactual contact with each other, I place within the opening 9 in the base8 a vertical wedge-shaped piece 2| having its pointed end directedupwardly and located midway between the two plungers l5 and It. Thefinal thrust of the plungers bends the tongues or strips until theycontact with opposite sides of the wedge 2! which holds the straightsections 3 and I in the desired spaced relation to each other.

Upon lifting the upper die member, the chanopenings 24 in registrationwith thue punches. The lower ends of these auxiliary punches are at aconsiderable distance above the lower ends of the punches II and II, sothat only during the final portion of the downward stroke of theupperdiedothepunchesflpassthroughthebottom wall of the channel memberand thus form therein the holes indicated at II in Fig. 3.

Between the upper and lower die members is a suitable stripper deviceincluding compression springs 26, that cause the upper die to risewhenever downward pressure on the same is released. and thus carry thepunches clear of the work. In Fig. 4 there is illustrated a modificationin which pairs of lugs 21 and 28, similar to those heretofore described,are punched from the bottom wall of the channel in the oppositedirection from those in Fig. 3. Consequently, by employing a channelmember of the type shown in Fig. 3

for the base or foot element of the framework. any channel member suchas shown in Pig. 4 for the top element, the studs may be channel membersof the same size as the two horizontal channel members, because theprojecting portions of the tongues or lugs on the upper member aresufncient to secure the upper ends of the studs even though the latterdo not extend clear to the bases of the tongues or lugs.

I claim:

1. A pair of dies for punching a pair of complementary tongues from ametal strip or bar, comprising a stationary horizontal lower die havingan elongated die-opening or slot, a verticallymovable upper die having-thereon two parallel punches adapted to move into and out of said slot,said punches being spaced apart from each other and each being a slidingfit in the corresponding end of said slot, each punch having a loweredge face comprising an inner section extending upwardly and inwardly ata considerable angle to the horizontal and an outer section extendingupwardly and outwardly at a much smaller angle and terminating at a muchlower level than does the other section.

2. A pair of dies for shearing and punching a pair of complementarytongues from a metal strip or bar, comprising a stationary horizontallower die having an elongated die-opening or slot, a vertically-movableupper die having thereon two parallel punches adapted to move into andout of said slot, said punches being spaced apart from each other andeach being a. sliding fit in the corresponding end of said slot, eachpunch having a bottom face forming with the front and back facesshearing edges, each bottom face comprising an inner section extendingupwardly and inwardly at a considerable angle to the horizontal and anouter section extending upwardly and outwardly at a much smaller angleand terminating at a much lower level than does the other section.

3. A pair of dies for shearing and punching a pair of complementarytongues from a metal strip or bar, comprising a stationary horizontallower die having an elongated die opening or slot, a vertically-movableupper die having thereon two parallel punches adapted to move into andout of said slot, said punches being spaced apart from each other andeach being a sliding fit in the corresponding end of said slot, eachpunch having a bottom face forming with the front and back facesshearing edges, each bottom face comprising an inner section extendingupwardly and inwardly at a considerable angle to the horizontal and anouter section extending upwardly and outwardly at a much smaller angleand terminating at a much lower level than does the other section, theextreme outer end of the outer section of each of said bottom facescurving sharply upward and forming a rounded corner at the juncture ofthe same with the adjacent vertical edge face of the correspondingpunch.

4. A pair of dies for shearing and punching a pair of complementarytongues from a metal strip or bar, comprising a stationary horizontallower die having an elongated die opening or slot, a vertically-movableupper die having thereon two parallel punches adapted to move into andout of said slot, said punches being spaced apart from each other andeach being a sliding fit in and inwardly at a considerable angle to thehorizontal and an outer section extending upwardly and outwardly at amuch smaller angle and terminating at a much lower level than does theother section, and a stationary wedge-shaped bar extending across theopening in the lower die midway between said punches, the sharp edge ofthe wedge facing upwardly and lying a considerable distance below thetop of the lower die.

JOHN W. GLEASON.

